Welcome Party
by ElijahAdrian
Summary: Twenty four months after leaving Dryland we find the Mariner on his new boat heading for his friends once more.


**Disclaimer: I the author do not receive profits for writing fan fictions, I hold no rights to any of the characters I emulate from the shows, movies, games, or books.**

**Welcome Party**

The endless water of the surface lapped at the hull of the trimaran as it bobbed along with the waves. Coming up from the depths the Mariner pitched his loot over the rim into the netting. Shells gleamed, an old pocket watch, and a small box of gems and rings. Shaking water out of his hair as he released the sails he checked the horizon around his new boat.

It had been nearly two years since he had left Dryland, two years since he had seen Helen and Enola. His heart ached at the memory of them and he turned his bow back to the north suddenly. He smiled at the idea of surprising the women who had wiggled their way into his heart.

He had used the time and the supplies that he had taken from Dryland to purchase the upgrades to the boat he had taken. It was as close to the old boat he was going to get. The only thing he had not rigged was the harpoon; it had been too expensive in light of the other purchases. His new ship had been christened with the name Nola, so that his little friend would always be with him on the open sea.

He wondered if Helen had partnered with the man that had remained on Dryland with them, the enforcer from Noland. Surely they had been leaving to bring in more people to their sanctuary, he wondered if they would still be at the beach village or if they had moved into the land more to find the unexplored territory. Gregor seemed to be scatter brained and flighty, but they would more than likely be able to start a village on the only patch of land in the world of waves.

The Mariner became jittery the closer he got to the heading, his heart hammered in his chest as he heard the birds in the distance. Anchoring away from the rocks to the east of the beach he strapped the small package to his back and dove from the bow into the warm waves. Standing in the sand he trudged up through the water towards the open land, he could hear chopping echoing down over the opening before a scream. A long limbed child with shoulder length blond orange hair came charging down the trail.

He picked up his pace and met her in the knee depth waters, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around while she cried into his neck. Enola pulled away and sniffled as she touched his face. "You came back." She whispered with a smile on her lips.

"I had to make sure you didn't get kidnapped again." He jabbed back. He tried to remain firm but his blue eyes gave away his true happiness at seeing her again. "Where are the others?"

"Helen is cleaning the meat for dinner, and Gregor is splitting logs."

"And the enforcer from Noland?"

"He's trying to train the horses we caught last month." Enola chuckled. "He isn't doing so well at it." The Mariner carried her up the beach into the shade of the trees along the hard packed trail into the village. Helen had her back to the approaching duo, knife gliding across the skin of the creature cleaning it of the tough hide. He noted the rack beside her with another hide pulled taught to dry. Enola wiggled down off his hip and gave him a smile before running past the woman to find the men.

Helen stood up, the knife lying on the low table with the meat as she moved to tack up the hide of the newest kill. He waited to see how long it would take before she noticed that he was behind her watching her work. Her hair was growing, much like Enola's it brushed over her shoulders wildly. She turned to head for the water to wash her bloody hands when she finally spotted him, she gasped and tears gathered on her lower eyelids as she watched him smile smugly at her shock.

"I see you haven't gotten yourselves killed." His jest woke her up, she launched at him and wrapping him up in her hard embrace. She cried much like Enola had as he rubbed her back in soothing circles. "I missed you too."

"Are you staying?" She sobbed out against his throat.

"For a few days, I wanted to see how you were doing and then see about some things with Gregor and the enforcer." Helen leaned away to stare him in the face. Her lips met his and her hands curled in his hair holding him close as if he would vanish into thin air. The Mariner parted for breath from the woman and felt her hand pressed against his chest where his heart hammered. "I might be persuaded into staying longer with a greeting like that." Helen smiled widely. Enola snickered behind them, with a smiling Gergor and the enforcer waiting to welcome their friend back to Dryland.

After a hot meal they sat together around the fire talking about their time apart. Enola lay with her head on his lap sleeping after such a long day of activity. She had followed him around like a chick to a hen, talking the whole time he explored the lands Gregor was showing him. Now, with Helen cuddled up against his other side he wondered if living on Dryland would be so terrible with his women.

"You plan on leaving again right?"

"In a few days, I wanted to talk to you about the other people surviving out there." He glanced down at the woman who loved him so deeply even with his mutations. "In my trading and wandering I met quite a few people who could benefit from knowing about Dryland. You need more numbers, there is plenty of land to have the village expand."

"Are you suggesting that you would give people the location of Dryland in your travels?" the enforcer raised a brow at his comment. "I see what you mean and I agree, but I think the selection of people should be monitored. We don't want people who are going to monopolize the resources."

"I wouldn't associate with people who would do something like that." He defended. "But it isn't something we have to discuss tonight; I'll be here a few more days." He rubbed at Helen's arm and smiled warmly at her when she caught his eye. "I think we'll call it a night."

"I'll see you tomorrow." the enforcer pushed up from his chair and moved away from the fire for his hut. The Mariner picked up Enola and followed Helen into their hut, putting her down on the small bed then letting the small woman lead him behind a curtain to her bed.

He lay awake that night, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept peacefully. In those long months away from the people that mattered to him he realized how miserable he actually had been. Now he had to decide if he wanted to remain on Dryland where everything was solid, or if he could survive away from his family on open blue.

**Hope you liked this little piece of fun.**

**I love this movie so much, and I was shocked to find only three stories written for it. So I set out to change that, one little story at a time.**

**Addy Eli**


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